THE SECRET LIFE OF DOCUMENTS
Sensitive information may be in your online documents and you don't even know it

THE NEW SCIENTIST reports of research which suggests that documents published on the Net may unintentionally reveal sensitive corporate or personal information.

Examining more than 100,000 Word documents, AT&T researchers used simple keyword searches on search engines.

"Sophisticated editing programs will often store information in a document file that the end user will not see. Storing recently deleted text can, for example, make editing a more efficient process ... (which) expose(s) unaware users to significant risks ... a crook could analyse electronic documents to gather information that could help them carry out corporate espionage or steal someone else's identity to commit fraud."